How to Fence a Yard on an Extreme Budget

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Fencing materials and the labor required to install them can drain a family's budget. You can cut costs by installing your own fence using recycled rather than factory-fresh materials. Companies receive merchandise deliveries on wood pallets that they will give away free to people who will pick them up. You can fence your yard on an extreme budget by using pallets that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Pallet Fence

1

Lay the loose end of a twine ball on the ground where you want your fence. Unroll the ball and mark your fence area while walking backward holding the ball. Measure the twine with a measuring tape to determine the linear feet of fencing you need.

2

Pick up free wooden pallets from local businesses or from postings on Internet marketplaces. Secure the amount of linear footage that you need plus an additional 10 percent to account for some unusable or damaged pallets. Wear gloves to protect your hands from splinters and methyl bromide-treated pallets. Pallets bear a mark of “HT” for heat-treated or “MB” for methyl bromide-treated wood.

3

Lay the pallets on the ground with the best side down. Some pallets may have damage or small holes in the slats on each side. If a pallet has damaged framework in the center of the two sides of slats, lay these aside.

4

Remove all of the slats from the backside of the pallets that are facing up. Use a claw hammer or pry bar to pull the nails out. Insert the slot of a claw hammer or pry bar around each nail and press the tool’s handle down to remove each nail.

5

Turn the pallets over on the ground and remove every other slat, but leave the two larger slats on each end of the pallets.

6

Draw a point with a carpenter’s pencil on the top of one remaining picket in a triangle shape with no bottom. Cut along the lines with a rotary tool to simulate a picket fence. Remove the piece of wood and use it as a template to draw a point on the top of each remaining top slat. Cut all of the slat tops into a point.

7

Measure your pallet’s horizontal length with a measuring tape. Dig two holes that are 2 feet deep and 4 inches around with the centers at the same distance as the pallet length. Hold one hand on each handle of a post hole digger, raise the tool and force it into the ground. Press both handles outward to secure the soil in the jaws and place the soil near the hole. Continue digging the holes are the correct depth.

8

Place a landscape timber in the center of each hole. Have a helper hold a level on the timber to make certain it is plumb. Fill the holes around each landscape timber with a shovel using the removed soil. Tamp the soil in place with the handle of a shovel.

9

Set two bricks about 6 inches from each landscape timber between the two timbers. Place the pallet on top of the two bricks with the left and right sides resting on the center of the landscape timbers.

10

Insert two 6-inch galvanized screws at the top, middle and bottom of the pallet and drive them into the landscape timbers with a drill.

11

Continue adding pallets and landscape timbers, one at a time, until your fence is completed, but leave one area open for a gate that is the same horizontal length as the pallets.

12

Stretch a chalk line along one side of the fence about an inch above the top screws on the pallets. Lay the chalk line on the landscape timbers and pluck the line to mark the posts. Cut the tops of each landscape timber off on the chalk line with a circular saw.

Pallet Gate

1

Prepare a pallet for the gate in the same manner as for the fencing by removing all back slats and every other front slat.

2

Lay the gate pallet on the ground. Attach the top hinge onto the gate about 3 inches from the top with the enclosed screws and a drill. Secure the bottom hinge in the same manner about 3 inches from the bottom.

3

Place a gate latch in the center of the gate on the opposite side from the hinges and screw it in place.

4

Place two bricks on the ground between the two gateposts about 6 inches from each landscape timber.

5

Rest the gate pallet on the bricks and against the landscape timbers.

6

Secure the gate hinges to the landscape timber post with screws. Place the other end of the latch onto the latch installed on the gate. Close a barrel lock or insert a hook in an eye, depending on which type of latch you choose. Secure the latch to the landscape timber with screws and a drill.

Things You Will Need

Twine

Measuring tape

Gloves

Wood pallets

Claw hammer

Pry bar

Carpenter’s pencil

Rotary tool

Posthole digger

Landscape timbers

Level

Shovel

2 bricks

6-inch galvanized screws

Drill

Chalk line

2 hinges

Latch

Tips

Cutting the tops of a pallet fence to resemble a picket fence adds style to the fence and allows the tops to shed water.

Measure each pallet’s length before digging the holes to support it on a fence. Some pallets are slightly different lengths.

The bricks that support the pallets raise them off the ground for installation so the pallets do not touch the ground and decompose prematurely.

Landscape timbers are treated wood and cost about 30 percent to 50 percent less than fence posts.

About the Author

Mary Lougee has been writing for over 10 years. She holds a Bachelor's Degree with a major in Management and a double minor in accounting and computer science. She loves writing about careers for busy families as well as family oriented planning, meals and activities for all ages.